Sony Computer Entertainment announces they are acquiring Gaikai in a deal worth approximately USD $380 million, confirming rumors they were planning to purchase the cloud-gaming service co-founded by industry veteran Dave Perry. "By combining Gaikai's resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE's extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices."

Parallax Abstraction wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 16:43:... fail to understand that one of the biggest lobbying industries anywhere (big telecom) is firmly against stuff like this.

A thousand times this. Ugh. All I can do is pray night and day that the telecom industry wakes up and realize that there is more to be gained by investing in their infrastructure than trying to do bullshit like bandwidth caps in order to drive profits. With things as they are, if I saw a bill come across the ballot asking if I wanted to raise my taxes by 200% so that the government could offer a competing broadband internet service, I'd be voting yes all the way.

At least then we might have a better chance at getting a service that focuses on performance and not raking in profits. I know to expect that from any government entity in itself is somewhat of a pipe dream, but something needs to be done about the infrastructure monopoly these companies have.

Instead of throwing money at a high powered computer rig you throw your money at your ISP so you don't have a slow as hell net connection. Nevermind the fact I have not seen a ISP who increases your bandwidth cap (if there is one) on the faster speed tiers. So you only pay to blow through your cap faster.

Not to mention the games look like piss because the graphics are cut back like crazy to stream them. Latency and input lag on top of all that.

I am really getting sick of all this 'cloud this, and cloud that' yet no one is doing one damned thing about how we get to said 'cloud'.

For better or worse, as the infrastructure improves I see game companies moving more and more toward a streaming model.

- Any game is accessible on any device, regardless of graphics hardware.- Eliminates piracy, as no game code is ever on the client.- It allows them to charge a subscription for the game instead of a one-time fee.

Within five years we'll see the first streaming exclusive: a game that releases exclusively to Gaikai or Onlive and can only be rented from them.

If Star Citizen was a child conceived in a night of passion, it would have started elementary school by now. -panbient

ledhead1969 wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 11:03:Instead of Sony/MS going after this tech I would really like them to put out a console where I can D/L all the games instead of having to buy hard copies, plus make whatever machine I am doing that on upgradeable...so...I want them to make the 720/ps4 basically a pc.

The PlayStation store now offers downloads for full PS3 games that used to only be distributed on Blu-ray discs. Obviously the selection is limited - they probably have to get permission from various stakeholders on a per-game basis. But at least part of what you're asking for is possible today.

There could be potential in this as a way to deliver games but all the lazy tech sites screaming "THIS IS THE FUTURE!" fail to understand that one of the biggest lobbying industries anywhere (big telecom) is firmly against stuff like this. It's why bandwidth caps are going down, it's why companies are introducing throttling, it's why these huge vertically integrated ISP/cable companies are exempting their own delivery services from caps. For this to become a strong reality, an army of telecom lobbyists will have to be basically ignored and more broadband competition will have to happen and that's simply not going to be a reality any time soon.

Also, I tried the TERA online demo out on Gaikai. There's potential there but the technology needs a LOT of work. I have a good connection and I saw poor image quality, artifacting and major mouse response issues (went form being super laggy to spinning my character around 2-3 times if I moved it slightly). It may have been something on my end or a glitch that particular time but it didn't leave a great impression of what it's capable of.

I have no problem with this whatsoever. Give me Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics and Legend of the Dragoon and I'll pay a reasonable fee to do some retro gaming. If they price old games around what the Wii charges (but hopefully less) I'm all for this.

nin wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 10:05:Dave Perry gets paid, moves along to next endorsement deal.

As an aside, I met with Dave Perry and the developers a few times a couple years ago while they were building up Gaikai. He was more than simply an endorsement in this case.

InBlack wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 10:56:Call me old-fashioned, but I would love to SEE a X360 game (actually any AAA title) streamed to a PC.

Well, the current rumor is Windows 8 is supposed to be fully integrated with the "Xbox Next" and Xbox Live. What that means is anyone's guess but there is a lot or rumors out there that you will be able to play Arcade games on your PC or Xbox. I doubt they would allow you to stick your Xbox DvD into a PC and have it playable, but maybe digital copies would be able to be played on either platform.

The next Xbox is basically going to be a Windows 8 machine so there really isn't much reason they couldn't run the software on both. Metro all the way apparently.

Gaikai was never specifically about cloud gaming, though, it was about cloud demoing. From that perspective I think it's fantastic - it had the potential to damn near guarantee a demo for every game. Yes, you don't know how well it runs on your system specifically, but is that even a big concern these days? It also saves you from downloading several gigs for a demo.

Not sure how Sony plans to use it. I'm assuming we're looking at it being something in the replacement for the PS4.

I could see SCE using this as a way to play their MMOs from any platform regardless of hardware specs. In most MMOs, particularly carebear MMOs, latency isn't that great of a problem, so this will just enable more people to use their products.

ledhead1969 wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 11:03:The bandwidth just isn't there yet for any type of game that requires twitch/split second timing.

That's down to network latency, not bandwidth. It could be improved with faster routing tech (optical switching etc) but could never match local play. It's out of the control of these cloud gaming companies anyway. Bandwidth is also an issue ofc, but for different reasons.

Personally speaking, I've been playing Borderlands on OnLive and have found it quite playable.

ledhead1969 wrote on Jul 2, 2012, 11:03:The bandwidth just isn't there yet for any type of game that requires twitch/split second timing.

That's down to network latency, not bandwidth. It could be improved with faster routing tech (optical switching etc) but could never match local play. It's out of the control of these cloud gaming companies anyway. Bandwidth is also an issue ofc, but for different reasons.

Personally speaking, I've been playing Borderlands on OnLive and have found it quite playable.